Papers of anthropologists Arnold Leonard and Trude Scarlett Epstein. The accession processed in 1985 contains field notes and produce market studies compiled by the Epsteins between 1959 and 1961, relating to the Tolai people from the Island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The accessions processed in 1993 includes correspondence, field notes, research materials, writings, and maps. The Arnold Epstein portion of the collection includes field notes made in Zambia during the 1950s and 1960s that focus on government, communities, unions and laws; notes from meetings of the African National Congress of Northern Rhodesia (1953-1954); and information on the 1968 election process of the Tolai people on Matupit, Papua New Guinea. The Trude Epstein portion of the collection focuses on economic conditions and market trends of the Tolai people in the 1950s and 1960s. The accessions processed in 1999 are solely representative of A.L. Epstein and include correspondence, writings, talks and seminar presentations, field notes on Tolai marriage, and biographical materials.

Arnold Leonard (Bill) Epstein, anthropologist, professor and writer, was born in Liverpool, England, on September 13, 1924. He served in the Royal Navy during the war. In 1944, he received a law degree from Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Manchester in 1955. His post-doctoral research (1950-1956) at the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute in Lansaka, Northern Rhodesia, involved the study of African native tribal law.

11.4 Linear feet (25 archives boxes, 1 flat box, 1 card file box, 15 oversize folders)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.

The typescript of "Melanesian Masquerade: The Male Cult among the Tolai of the Gazelle Peninsula" located in Box 26 is restricted until 2018. The audio recordings in Series 17, Box 27 are restricted. Researchers must request user copies be produced in advance.